Take two of these and call me in the morning

This is pharmaceutical humor for ya.

Always read the fine print!

It's not fair...

...that I have to be working all day, when Patrik teams up with my übercool friend Isaac for a day in the snow. Click on the link below for a dreamy picture of P in the white wilderness.

Found some super fun turns in the Alpental backcountry. @ Snow Lake instagr.am/p/V-i-KkqtEg/
— Isaac Price (@FFMBA3N) February 21, 2013

But I won't mope for long; on Friday my brother joins Patrik and me in Seattle, and a couple of days later the three of us head North, across the Canadian border for a six-day getaway in Whistler. I reckon it'll only take a day or two of snowboarding with these guys to leave me battered and bruised, but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy the ride. (Pretty sure.)

The best things come in small packages

At last! On Sunday I finally got to meet baby boy Cian. Scott picked up Patrik and me and drove us to the hospital where Shani waited for us with the little guy wrapped like a burrito. He slept most of the time we were there, occasionally stretching and making funny little noises, but reluctantly opened his dark blue eyes before we left.

He also managed to impress us with some really cool faces.

This guy knows how to pose for the camera. Bye for now, little one! I'll see you again soon.

Wrapped up

What's this? A real bargain, that's what it is!

At least if you're into semi-depressing lithograph prints with dented golden frames for half price, like I am. (Otherwise, you might not be particularly impressed.) I'll reveal what's hiding under the brown paper as soon as my vintage darlings have found fitting spots on my walls.

Slam dunk

Saturday night was all about hoops, balls, nets, dribbles, dunks, and rebounds as Seattle U Redhawks took on UT Arlington Mavericks in KeyArena; we're talking men's college basketball in the Western Athletic Conference.

It was an exciting game that kept going back and forth, and the fun wasn't over until the very last seconds. Unfortunately, UT Arlington ended up winning with 65-63 after an intense finale, but Patrik and I had a swell time nevertheless.

Being a big fan of high school/college movies, I immediately started categorizing the athletes and cheerleaders as well as individuals in the audience and supporting crews into typical stereotypes seen on the screen. The popular kids and the weirdos; the jocks and the nerds. The overly committed dads with veins about to pop in their foreheads, yelling and gesticulating fervently next to perfectly made-up mothers with flawless hairdos on front row. Youths with problems and youths holding great expectations.

Almost as much fun as the game itself!

Blowing kisses

Alright, people: Valentine's Day is a stupid, commercialized holiday for silly people with bad taste, poor sense of creativity, and blah blah blah... I know.

I know!

But I am kinda silly and I do kinda like it, so just get over it. Okay?

Good.

Then let me blow some kisses to my loved ones all over the world. From USA to Afghanistan, to Sweden, France, Germany, and Brazil. Wherever you may be, you are all my Valentines!

As we say in Sweden: Glad alla hjärtans dag!
(Happy All Hearts' Day!)

Error! Error! Error!

Clearly, someone must have done something seriously wrong when they started up this day, because everything went more or less backwards from the point I got out of bed.

Let us forget that this Tuesday ever happened and go on with our lives. Thank you and good night.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

The sun is shining, birds are singing, and people are dancing in the streets. Why, you ask? Two reasons:

1. Little baby Cian (ancient Gaelic name, pronounced Kee-an) was born last night. Welcome to the world! And congratulations to the proud parents Shani and Scott. Way to go! I can't wait to get to know the little guy.

2. Patrik flies in from Sweden tomorrow and stays for three whole weeks. It's going to be crowded in my little apartment, but awfully fun.

Sure, the fact that it's Friday adds a little something extra too, but it fades in importance compared to newborns and friends. Hooray! Hurra! Tjoho!

History repeats itself

That's it. I'm staying away from FHCRC's Employee Health Clinics from now on; their nurses are too persuasive.

I simply couldn't refuse a free injection of A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus, A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus, and B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus. Yum!

(Mom, don't flip out - it was just a flu shot.)

A bad workman blames his tools

I, however, am very content with mine, thankyouverymuch.

There were some complaints a while ago about my creative use of kitchen utensils for home improvement, but this carpenter just got herself a new hammer. It's working extraordinarily well, I might add.

Happy? I sure am.

D.C. in pictures

My three-night getaway to Washington, D.C. turned out to be surprisingly well-timed. I arrived on Monday night winter clad, huddling in a January drizzle at the Metro station. On Tuesday morning, someone had flipped a switch and turned on spring. Unfortunately, I did not know that and consequently went out for a jog in my usual gear; tights and jacket, base layer, gloves, bandana, leg warmers - the whole caboodle. I walked out into the beaming sunlight, started jogging and realized rather quickly (albeit too late) that everyone I met was walking jacketless in summer shoes - some even barelegged. It was 21C (70F) and I was positively melting.

I won't bore you with details about the conference, so I'll just state that it was genuinely worthwile and that I surprised myself by being rather superb at networking. I don't know where my confidence came from, but it sure helped me engaging in scientific discussions as well as casual chitchatting with all kinds of hotshots in our field of research.

The pictures below tell the rest of the story. My sightseeing started at the magnificent Lincoln Memorial.

The view over the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument was rather stunning from the top of the stairs.

After getting a closer look at the impressive piece of rock (the world's tallest stone structure!) raised in the honor of the first American president, I took a detour past the White House...

...on my way through the Federal Triangle, passing the FBI bulding...

...towards the U.S. Capitol, where it suddenly looked much more wintery again (at least in this photo).

And as darkness fell over the District, I kept walking on, admiring the city from every angle.

If you ever get a chance to go to D.C. - take it! Even ancient Greece could be out-marbled by this captivating capital.